Submerged
by Tuvstarr's lost heart
Summary: She caught a glimpse of a tress of dark hair just as it submerged into the dark, freezing cold river water.
1. A glimpse

_Submerged - She caught a glimpse of a tress of dark hair just as it submerged into the dark, freezing cold river water._

 _AN:As previously mentioned, Submerged is now being deleted from my WYG collection and will continue here instead._

* * *

It all happened so fast.

In one second Yona heard the thin ice under them creak alarmingly as Hak went down on his knees, dropping his Hsu Quando in favour of clutching his right thigh and letting out a single hissing breath of pain as the wayward arrow drilled itself deep into his flesh.

In the next moment she felt a strong arm wrap itself around her torso and pick her up as if she weighted no more than a feather before tossing her with inhuman strength all the way to the other river bank. Far away from their pursuers and the unstable ice that was getting closer to crack with every second under the pressure their combined weight presented. The young princess landed ungracefully on her backside but her fall was luckily dampened by the foot-deep, soft glittering snow on the ground. As soon as the world had, at least somewhat, stopped spinning, she rushed up and let her gaze sweep across her frozen surroundings, searching frantically for him and fixating her eyes on the big hole in the crystal-clear ice which had not existed mere moments ago. She caught a glimpse of a tress of dark hair just as it submerged into the dark, freezing-cold river water.

Fear ripped through her stomach with raw intensity and embedded itself into the bottom of her chest, making it near impossible to breathe and she struggled to force air into her protesting lungs. She wanted to scream but the words refused to erupt from her trembling lips as she silently shaped her mouth around his name.

She could not believe it; he had done it again, sacrificed his own safety to protect her. The ice had been so close to giving in already and the quick shift of weights when he picked her up must have presented the final blow to its fragile state.

As in a haze she observed her pursuers closing in on her, trying to find a way across the cracked ice. Dark figures distinctively contrasting the pure white environment. They carried sharp swords which glittered in the cold afternoon sun and slowly, carefully, tested the ice. Her pursuers took a long detour around the pitch black hole in which Hak had disappeared mere moments ago in order to reach their ultimate goal: the red haired, previous princess of Kouka Kingdom.


	2. Air

_Air – In which Hak fights for his life to avoid drowning._

* * *

Panic.

Pain.

Terror.

Limbs paralysed from the sudden drop in temperature and lungs exploding from within.

His right thigh burned and his body refused to obey his desperate commands to swim towards the frozen surface. The current was strong and it dragged him further down the massive river.

He felt himself sink towards the bottom and realised that if he did not pull himself together, he would die here, in a cold, anonymous water grave, and he refused to let that happen. There was still so much he had to do. He had still not fulfilled his promise; his princess was waiting for him beyond this cold darkness. She was still in great danger and he had to get to her. He was not ready to give up yet.

So he, with sheer willpower, took once again control over his protesting limbs and began swimming up towards the icy surface in hopes of finding a weaker spot to break the ice. The process was agonisingly slow and painful and the situation was not helped by the dark arrow still firmly embedded in his thigh. He could not pull it out underwater and so he had no choice but to let it sit there for now, effectively rendering his right leg completely useless and a huge hindrance in his pursuit of reaching the surface.

His lungs burned with the lack of oxygen and he struggled against the light-headedness that loomed behind his temples and threatened to overtake him completely. He knew he had to reach the surface soon, if he didn't, he would surely lose consciousness and that would be the end of it all.

Knowing all this and trying to swim upwards towards the surface through muddy, ice-cold river water while the current drew you farther and farther away from the original hole from which he had gone under, proved no simple task. As he was dragged further down the river, he suddenly collided with a huge stone that reached all the way from the bottom to the surface. He was rammed into the frozen, unforgiving rock which effectively knocked the last bit of air his lungs had held and he could not help but gulp in pain and swallow more river water as he more felt than heard an ominous _crack,_ and felt sudden, sharp pain, flair up from his left side. Even so, he was not going to let the opportunity slip by and he ignored his aching ribs as he reached out to grab onto the icy rock which could provide him with a stable foundation to cling onto.

He used the rock as a stepping stone and with one arm wrapped around the ice-coated surface he started hammering the surface of the river with his bare fists, resolutely ignoring the burning sensations in his hands while doing so.

As it was still early in winter the ice layer was still relatively thin and he could easily break the ice. He pulled himself up closer to the small hole he had created and greedily drew in the precious air that had so long been denied him into his aching lungs.

Then, when he had widened the hole to the degree that he finally thought he could pull himself out of the death trap the river constituted, another obstacle rammed into the arm that he held himself connected to the stone with. He lost his grip and found himself tumbling through the darkness once more. He felt the force of the impact throw him towards another rock close to the first and unable to control his movements, the back of his head collided with the other rock. He caught a glimpse of what had knocked him off the rock and realised it was the cold corpse of a soldier he fought earlier.

It could only mean one thing. The dragons had reached the princess and that they now fought to protect her.

She would be safe.

The others had found her.

It was the last conscious thought that ran through his head before everything turned black.


	3. Too late?

_Too late? - The green dragon sent a quiet prayer to the gods, desperately hoping he had not been too late._

* * *

It was funny really; at first Yona's only focus was the hole in the ice in which Hak had disappeared. She wasn't aware of the snow that slowly soaked her clothes and progressively chilled her bones, or even large circle of enemies that had gathered around her. Even the tall soldier who apparently tried to communicate with her scarcely mattered.

All she could see, all that mattered, was that Hak had gone under the ice. The same scenario replayed in her head over and over again, from being picked up and tossed like a glove, to seeing him vanish into the darkness in which she could not follow.

Then she gradually became more aware of her environment. It started with the little things, like noting that her legs were getting cold from kneeling in the snow and that a drop of sweat tickled her eyelid. Then it grew to incorporate more of her surroundings. Like noting the man who had apparently tired of trying to talk to the mute and unresponsive girl and now prepared himself to simply pick her up and walk away with her. If she did not follow them by her own machine he would carry her, if so his life depended on it.

She lifted her gaze to meet the man she held responsible for Hak's fate. A fire burned in the violet orbs that spoke of hatred and a rage just contained.

He involuntarily jerked back when his eyes met hers. He had not expected such fury in the eyes of the captured princess, and even though he would never admit, it startled him and stirred an illogical, irrelevant fear in his chest which he couldn't seem to shake. Though his attention was soon called elsewhere, letting him forget the terrifying eyes of the furious princess for the moment: someone, or rather something, was approaching, fast!

Yona's fury faded and was replaced with an overwhelming joy when she realised what was happening, she recognised the screaming voices telling her that they had arrived to protect her and to get rid of the cretins that dared to bother their princess. When they stormed into sight Kija, Shin-Ah and Jae-Ha dived into the battle head first to clear a path to Yona, with Yoon and Zeno close behind focusing on getting closer to their beloved master.

"Yona, are you all right? What happened? Where's Hak? Why isn't he with you?" Yoon asked when he reached her, eager to get a better grip of the situation. He dropped to his knees to get eye contact with the young girl in the snow, though his efforts and questions only proved to bring Yona back from the excitement of being reunited with her friends. She diverted her gaze away from his stern sky blue and turned around to once again focus on the hole in the ice.

"He… fell in," she mumbled, still staring down into the darkness, as if her gaze could magically summon him from his cold water grave. Then she turned around to face the youngest member of the group and pure despair radiated from her eyes and vibrated in her now hysterical voice as she continued: "Hak fell in! Yoon, the ice cracked under him when he helped me to safety, he fell in and he didn't came up again!"

Yoon paled when he heard her hysterical explanation and the panic in her voice but quickly gathered himself. He called out to the blue dragon, hoping his heightened vision could give them a clue as to where the thunder beast could be.

Shin-Ah simply nodded towards the teenaged boy, only a few years younger than himself, and he stopped the fighting for a second to focus his eyesight towards the river, letting it sink below the ice and scanning the area quickly. When he could not find what he was searching for, he let his gaze follow the river downstream, across debris and natural rock formations until his sight reached a shallower passing. His eyes widened when he found what he was searching for.

"Hak's stuck in between two rocks at the bottom of a shallow passing further down the river."

Yona's face expressed pure horror when she heard the grim words; tears rose and flowed freely and without the princess making even the slightest attempt to stop them, she stumblingly got up on her feet with the obvious intention of running to find her bodyguard.

Having observed Yona and her reactions, Zeno anticipated her intentions well in advance and he quickly realised what needed to be done. He grabbed the young princess arm to stop her from leaving and turned to the green dragon.

"Jae-Ha, hurry!" He shouted.

"Already on it!" Jae-Ha shouted back in confirmation that he heard the call and the urgency in the yellow dragon's voice, and after taking a quick look around, noting that Kija, in his monstrous powerful dragon force, together with Shin-Ah seemed to have everything under control. The soldiers were focusing on the two magnificent warriors and Zeno, now with help from Yoon, held the frantic princess back so that she would stay out of harm's way. She might have forgotten but they were, after all, in the middle of a battle field.

Jae-Ha noted all this and quickly took his leave, jumping high in the air in search for their missing friend. It did not take him long to find the place Shin-Ah had spoken about: in summer commonly utilized as a perfect place to cross the river with waist-high water and big rocks protruding the surface which almost created a walkable pathway across. He landed on one of the rocks and it did not take him long to locate Hak underneath the ice. With help from his powerful dragon leg, he easily crushed the ice separating the two males, though when his leg came in contact with the cold water and it splashed up on him he could not help but yelp in shock. Every fibre in his body protested against voluntarily getting close to the terribly cold, dark liquid but it could not be helped, he just had to suffer through it. Balancing on two different rocks, he bent down to reach Hak's cold, limp body and pull him out of the natural trap the rocks created.

He struggled for a few seconds until he got the taller man's body up out of the water, Hak was not exactly a lightweight. The green dragon felt himself getting soaked in the process and shivered in response. Heavens it was cold!

He frowned deeply when he saw his friend's blue lips, pale, still face and felt the unimaginable cold, wet skin against his own. He got up with haste and dragged Hak over to the shore of the river, proceeding to quickly checking the pulse.

Jae-Ha sighed in relief when he felt a faint thump against his fingers. It was incredible weak and it took far too long for his liking before he felt the next one, but it was there. Hak's heart was still beating and his chest still rose and sunk slightly in a definite sign of life.

But it was not enough, Jae-Ha's heart sunk when the blue cladded warrior showed no sign of waking up, despite being rescued from the cold water, and in a more or less conscious attempt to get some sort of reaction from him, Jae-Ha started shaking his friend's shoulders. At first very carefully but soon with more frenzy as nothing happened. Then a small cough slipped through Hak's blue hued lips, soon followed by a stronger one, a wet whacking sound that filled Jae-Ha's heart with dread and soon developed into a full-fledged coughing fit. Hak rolled over on his side as he began vomiting up half the river. He wheezed, spat and coughed up most of the cold water while cradling his ribs with one arm and supporting his weight with the other. He struggled to force air into his abused lungs but it seemed every gasping breath was a strain. Jae-Ha threw his arm around the other man to help holding himself upright while the coughs tormented Hak mercilessly. When the fit finally subsided and he had gotten rid of most of the water, Hak took a few wheezing, shallow breaths, and looked up at the green haired man with confusion clearly painted all over his pale, tired face. Small ice crystals already beginning to form in his hair made a clinking, rustling sound as he started to shiver uncontrollably. He formed his lips to say something but exhaustion took over and his eyes rolled back into their sockets while his body grew limp in Jae-Ha's grip.

The green dragon sighed and shook his head, clearly the involuntary midwinter swim had taken a greater toll on the strong warrior than Jae-Ha would have hoped but now was not the time to sit around wishing things would be different. He knew he had to get back to the others as quickly as possible so he wasted no time but hoisted Hak up on his back and jumped into the air, not as high this time as the extra weight made it harder to reach the highs he was used to.

"Umph, you really need to cut back a bit on Yoon's cooking my friend, you're getting fat," he muttered out loud, more to elevate his own uneasiness with a joke than in a serious expectation of receiving an answer.

He rushed back to where the rest of his friends waited and dropped Hak on the ground in front of Yoon, Yona and Zeno with what he hoped came out as a casual remark noting that Hak was breathing and that he had coughed up the water he had swallowed. Though he suspected he failed to completely conceal the worry in his voice he could not help but feel. He cursed himself when he saw how the princess paled even more than before when she heard his comment as he headed back into the fight to help the blue and white dragon clean up the last of the soldiers and finish the fight.

The green dragon sent a quiet prayer to the gods, desperately hoping he had not been too late.


	4. The wake up

_The wake up - While the rest is fretting, Hak downplays everything, as usual._

* * *

To say that Hak was used to getting injured was perhaps an exaggeration. He had undeniably had his fair share of accidents and the occasional injury when growing up. This came with combat training and the ordinary life of an adventurous boy. Not to talk about all the actual battles he had seen since he fled the castle with the princess. However, his determination to always exceed, his proneness for battle, and his bone marrow deep conviction to protect the princess at all costs had moulded him into a fearsome warrior.

So when he woke up with a groan, his body aching virtually everywhere and with a few focal points of more concentrated distress, even though he was not entirely surprised, it still threw him off guard and he gasped for air. An achievement he instantly regretted as his lungs promptly turned on him for the offending action and sent scorching flames of pure agony through his rib-cage, effectively halting his breath and making him wince in pain, which in turn set off a painful coughing fit.

Shallow breaths then, he quickly concluded when the fit lessened. As the pain in his chest eased up just an inch, his consciousness were able to detect more of his surroundings and his general state, allowing him to notice a dulled but persistent wave of nausea lingering in the back of his sore throat, combined with a sour taste in his mouth that he recognized as residual taste of recent vomiting. For a moment he had to focus solely on keeping the nausea at bay as it gave its best shot in making him keel over. After a little while, when the worst waves had somewhat settled, he resumed the mission of finding out more precisely what was wrong. His right thigh throbbed painfully and his head ached intensely- a probable explanation for the nausea he noted dryly, but nothing compared to the searing pain in his left side and chest. He tentatively tried to take a heavier breath and immediately regretted his decision when it brought on another painful cough. He instinctively moved his hand to investigate but was halted halfway by a smaller hand and an order to lay still and don't move just yet. The voice continued with an explanation of why he was not allowed that he could not quite make out the reason for. His head felt groggy and now that he was adjusting to consciousness again, more impressions started flooding his mind: the soft touch of pelt underneath, the rough, heavy texture of several sleeping blankets covering him, and the cold air above it.

Wait.

The cold.

There was something about that.

He had been so cold. He still was.

For the first time he noted that he was shivering violently.

Fragmented images, memories of intense sensations of freezing.

Of ice cracking.

Of being unable to breathe.

Of… drowning…

Shit, he had fallen in the ice river. He remembered trying to swim and breaking the ice, the colliding corpse and then…

Hak panicked: hands desperately gripping his throat and body trashing around. He did not even register the shouting around him or more people rushing to his side to hold him down. He fought to sit up, ignoring the pain and struggled against the restraining hands. He had to get up, get out! His lungs burned and when he began coughing again, he doubled over, unable to bear neither the searing pain nor the exhaustion that filled his limbs with lead. The nausea returned with full force and an especially powerful cough sent him gagging, barely even noticing the empty bowl someone rushed to strategically place in front of him.

"Hak, can you hear me?"

"Hak!"

"Listen to me; it's Yona, it's okay. You are okay, just breathe, it is okay," the princess' voice persisted, and together with small hands rubbing his back soothingly, the heaving slowly lessened to finally subside completely. As his breath settled into a more shallow pace and the burning in his chest eased up an inch, he made an effort to sit up, but the movement only made his head spin and everything went black once more…

...

The second time he regained consciousness was a mercifully slower, gentler process: he gradually became more aware of his surroundings and cautiously tried to pry open tired eyes, only to promptly close them again. The weak light in the tent cruelly stung eyes that were far too adjusted to darkness. He blinked and then tiredly opened them again: the second, slower attempt went better and he found himself staring into the eyes of his friends, expressions ranging from worried to relieved. They had all gathered in the small tent and now practically sat in each other's laps to fit, and even then it was a clear struggle. Had he not been so exhausted it would have been hilarious to see Kija trying his best not to elbow Jae-Ha in the side as he tried to accommodate for his dragon arm and Shin-Ah doing his best to act indifferent despite having a half-naked Zeno happily bouncing on his lap. Yoon sat next to Hak on the ground holding up a long sleeved tunic and offered it to him. The taller man only stared at the tunic for a moment before looking down on himself and realising he was only covered by a heavy blanket that had slid down from his shoulders when he shifted and now pooled around his waist. He accepted the warm piece of clothing and quickly shoved it over his head, ignoring the flare of pain in his side and the offer of help from Yoon.

"We had to get you out of the wet clothes; you were hypothermic. Zeno helped to warm you up," the sandy blonde teenager offered quickly, although Hak got the distinct feeling he was glossing over a couple of details.

"Mister's awake, it's great to see!" The energetic dragon beamed while putting his own tunic back on, completely ignorant of the awkward situation.

Hak, not quite trusting his voice just yet just nodded and smiled, so Zeno had helped warm him? Despite being slightly uncomfortable with the implications of those words, Hak was not stupid, he was grateful towards the yellow dragon for his actions. He knew the risks of hypothermia and standard protocol: the quickest way to regain warmth will always be through shared body heat. Something else nagged in the back of his head though, it did not quite add up, the last thing he remembered was the river and…

"T-the soldiers?" He rasped out, voice rough from being unused and careful to keep his breathing as shallow as possible to avoid aggravating his injuries further.

"Taken care of. Those who lived retreated when it became clear that it was a losing battle for them," Kija explained grimly.

"How did I?" He pushed further, trying to get a better grip of the situation.

"Jae-ha pulled you out," Yoon offered and nodded towards the green dragon, who grinned from one ear to the other, clearly relishing the attention.

"Ah, yes my dear Hak, Jae-Ha will always come to rescue you when you find yourself in a pickle. Although I would really appreciate of you picked an environment a tad bit more pleasant next time will you? It really messed up my hair you see," he drawled, giving his long emerald hair a flick with his wrist, completely unfazed by the scowl and glare it earned him but made sure to step out of Hak's reach as the dark haired man shifted to sit up, you know, just in case.

Yoon took that as a cue to chase them all out of the tent with the argument that the thunder beast needed some rest and with orders to bring them food and water. Under more or less sincere protests everybody but Yoon and Yona left.

The three of them remained silent as Hak simply sat there and let the younger boy attend to his injuries, only letting the occasional unavoidable hiss slip through stiff lips when a bandage was being tightened, or he was being asked to lift his arms up so Yoon could see to his ribs. Shin-Ah brought in a jug of water and a broth that, judging by the appealing aroma, Yoon definitely had prepared earlier. Despite refusing to look straight at the bodyguard, Yona helped where she could and when Yoon was satisfied, he stepped out of the small tent to give the princess and her bodyguard some time alone. Not before giving one last order to the thunder beast to take it easy though; among the other injuries Hak had taken a blow to the head and was likely to feel a bit out of it for a while.

An awkward silence settled for a moment in which the princess occupied herself with pouring the broth into a smaller bowl and Hak observed her, wondering what on earth she was thinking. Her fingers trembled so much that the bowl almost slipped out of her nervous hands. What did she have to be nervous about?

"How could you?"

Oh, so she wasn't nervous, she was pissed.

"Excuse me?" He rasped out, before coughing again, a wet barking sound. Fuck, something was definitely wrong with his chest; it took far more effort just to speak than it should.

"How could you do something so stupid? You know the ice couldn't hold us both, yet you still picked me up, while hurt! Why are you always so eager to throw away your life?" From starting out quietly with her face turned away from him, she shifted her gaze as she talked so that she was facing him and her voice gradually got louder until she almost screamed out the last words, ignoring the fact that the others must hear every word. The fabric of the tent's thin walls being not by any means soundproof.

Hak could only stare at the furious princess in disbelief for a moment, had she gone completely mad? It was his job to protect her for crying out loud.

"Princess, I-"

"No, you listen to me! How many times have I seen you get hurt? How many times have I wondered if you would wake up or not? Do you know how long you were in that water? Or how long you have been asleep? How long it took us to get you to stop shivering and warm again?" She continued furiously. Then suddenly, as if she lost all the will to argue, her voice died out, and with tears glistening in the corner of her eyes, one last question slipped through. One he suspected she had not intended to voice out loud, and one that cut straight to his heart. Twisting, pulling and tearing at all his carefully moulded defences.

"Do you know how afraid I was?"

She was crying now, god he hated when she cried. It really was not fair, and he kind of suspected she knew it too and on occasion used it against him.

"Stupid," he growled, pulling the startled princess close to him, wincing at the movement but refusing to stop until she was pressed tightly against his chest. "'m okay, sorry for… worrying you princess, but stop… those annoying tears… they do nothing good for you: a snotty nose and… puffy eyes just makes you… uglier you know," he teased, quickly falling into familiar patterns. He really did despise it when she was upset.

Yona tensed at being shoved into Hak's embrace without her consent, and although she could hear his usual jabbing, no doubt aimed at re-establishing a sense of normality, she did not raise to the bait. Instead she listened to the way he said it and frowned at how, even though he obviously tried to hide it, he struggled with getting the words out and the unsettling rattle in his chest as his shallow breathing continued.

"Does it hurt a lot?" She pried.

"Uh? Na, told you, I'm okay. But… could you please… hand me some of that… water?" He asked, hoping to distract her by any means possible. Plus his throat was really sore and his mouth tasted like ash. And look at that, miracles beyond miracles, it worked; she immediately broke the hug and scurried away to the other corner of the tent where the food and water had been left there forgotten in the previous argument.

Hak was not entirely sure how well the broth would go down so he, despite her very tempting offer to feed him, focused on the water, carefully taking in a mouthful and letting it roll in his mouth for a moment to wash away the sour taste and soothe his throat. His stomach protested enough from just the water for him to disregard the hearty liquid despite realising how hungry he actually was. How long had it been since he had eaten anything? Hard to tell as she had only hinted of him being out for a while but refused to give more detail than that. He argued with himself if he should push his luck and ask her straight out but quickly decided against it - It was not worth risking her getting upset again - and instead focused on finding the rest of his clothing. When she realised what he was looking for, she brought a pile of fabric that he identified as his normal winter clothes and put them down next to him before getting up and leaving the tent, cheeks flushed and ignoring his half joking suggestion that she should help him get dressed.

...

He could feel the gazes of every member in their merry little gang when he stepped out of the tent, leaning heavily on Kija and advancing slowly. Trying his best not to aggravate his lungs more than necessary, the acrobatics of trying to get back into his normal clothing had provided well enough of that, thank you very much.

Kija had entered the tent soon after Yona left it and informed Hak that the princess had asked the white dragon to help him, something the warrior gruellingly accepted after the first miserable attempt at independency had left him in a rather undesirable situation: laying on the floor of the tent doubled over, desperately trying to fill protesting lungs with air and wincing at the multitude of painful flares the different wounds sent in response to being agitated. His chest still felt abnormally heavy and he could feel a wetness in his lungs when he coughed that didn't bode well.

He noticed small fires lit all around the tent to warm up the air and a bigger one in front of it where Yoon currently busied himself with cooking something. Looking up, he grimaced slightly at the bright glary sun, but didn't look down until he found the clue he had been looking for: judging by the position of the sun it was mid-morning and he realised he must have slept for at least almost a day. It had been around lunchtime when they encountered the soldiers. No wonder the princess and the rest were worried. He stretched himself out and made a show of removing himself from Kija's support despite the other's growling order to stay put and greeted the rest before moving over to the fire, hiding the limp as well as he could and carefully easing himself down in front of the fire. He casually inquired about a breakfast he was not the least bit interested in and acted fine in general. Maintaining a façade was far more important than anything else, in particular than showing the others how shitty he actually felt.


	5. Downhill

_Downhill - One can only keep up appearance for so long._

* * *

Breakfast turned out to be just as an unpleasant experience as Hak had suspected, with his stomach churning warningly whenever he looked down on the plate in his lap, and it was a battle to chew and swallow. He persisted and managed to finish at least a couple of mouthfuls of the rice and winter vegetables Yoon had scrambled together, for two reasons. Firstly, he knew he needed the food to regain his strength, and more importantly, he knew he was being watched, intensely.  
When the rest of the group finished their breakfast he spoke.

"We should leave now… We can cross the mountain."

"What? That's ridiculous, you're far from healed enough to travel and the mountains are dangerous this time of year. We should stick to our original plan to walk around it to reach wind tribe territory in a few days," Yoon interjected.

"I will be fine… we've stayed here… longer… than we should. You all saw the town we came from, it is littered with soldiers… At least a couple of thousand… and when the retreating soldiers… return with backup… we'll be sitting ducks. Plus, there is only so much… dry firewood to keep us all warm… and I'd… prefer sleeping… in a warm cot somewhere… rather than on the ground in the middle of winter," Hak argued and pulled out a map of the area. It took far longer than it should to simply get the message out as he had to pause to breathe in between every few words but he was not about to let that stop him from voicing his concerns.

"The town's barely… even a day's walk away… they'll return soon… I know the mountain's… dangerous at winter… but there is a pathway across… most people aren't aware of… usual way's around… but the wind tribe… utilizes the lesser known route for trade… Instead of going around, which is the route…, they'll assume we'll take… and follow us by, we'll walk across… Not at the highest point," he pointed as he talked, "but here, halfway to the top... The route will take us not far from Fuuga in the end."

"I don't know… seems dicey with the risk of avalanche and with your leg, not to mention that you can barely breathe…" Yoon argued and Hak cursed inwardly, of course he would notice that, nothing slipped past the younger boy and judging by the not so subtle glances and nods of the others, they agreed with Yoon.

Hak grew more and more frustrated, why couldn't they see the sense in what he was saying? They could not risk sitting and waiting for the soldiers to come for them, it was madness. "Listen… I'm fine… I've endured worse before… not safe to stay here," he tried to reason before a tangible silence engulfed the camp.

"Are you planning on going back to Fuuga then?"

"No, still don't want to involve them… but along the way there are villages… where we could hide and rest… We would be welcome there."

"I trust you Hak; you know the area better than anyone here. Do you really think it's the best way?" Yona broke in.

"Yes."

"Fine then, I don't want to run into the soldiers again and risk any more bloodshed either," Yona commented. She could all too clearly picture the moment Hak got hurt only yesterday, the panic she felt when she saw him kneeling, the fear that clawed her insides when they cornered them, pushing them further out on the unstable ice and the palpable blood-lust in the enemies' eyes. The others had not been there when Hak desperately tried to fend them off all by himself, severely handicapped by the fact that he had to act out both offence and defence to protect her as well as fight.

She wanted to avoid that scenario ever repeating itself.

Hak turned around to look at the princess with eyes slightly widened in surprise before he nodded his agreeance. He might not had been not counting on her support but was not about to argue about it.

Yoon sighed and gave in, on the condition that the thunder beast would let them know if he needed a break, and that he would not try to walk by himself, at all. Something Hak readily agreed to, he might be stubborn, but he was not an idiot.

Once their next course of action was decided, everybody set about to tidy up the camp and prepare to leave again. Having travelled together for so long, no one needed any instructions and soon they were ready to leave. Yoon, with map in hand, led the way while Hak, supported by Shin-Ah on his right side, followed closely behind in case Yoon needed any help with directions.

The morning progressed slowly. Hak felt the gazes of his friends burning but he trudged on, refusing to give them anything to worry about. His chest denied him the full usage of his lungs as he focused on the painful task of persistently putting one leg in front of the other, and his breathing kept its shallow, uneven pace. His right thigh ached more than he would ever admit. Every time his boot connected with the ground incandescent flares of pain shot through it. Soon he opted for avoiding putting the foot down all together in favour of leaning more heavily on Shin-Ah while pulling it up slightly so it hovered just above ground. Shin-Ah threw him a glance when he first did so but remained silent, instead he simply readjusted his grip so that Hak's hip rested comfortably against his own to allow him to lean even more on the blue haired dragon. Or as comfortable as he could be, being half carried by another man.

An unusual, almost oppressing silence enveloped the group as they followed the trail, hurriedly making their way towards the mountain. Yona kept throwing worried glances towards Hak and Shin-Ah and she knew she was not the only one. She began regretting her decision to keep pushing forward while Hak was still unwell, but what could they have done? She desperately wanted to avoid more bloodshed and if the retreating soldiers returned with the full force of reinforcements… The four dragons and herself, only armed with her trusty bow, would not stand a chance against several thousand enemies. Yoon was not suited for battle and the mere idea that Hak would participate was ludicrous.

Only, he would most likely not see it that way.

If battle was unavoidable and she could not stop him from joining… no, they had no other choice than trying to outrun the soldiers by using the route Hak had suggested.

So they kept pushing forward, only stopping for a quick lunch break when the sun reached zenith, during which Hak promptly dropped to the ground and just laid there for a moment. Though when the rest gathered around him, he still refused to admit that he could not keep going, instead he scrambled himself up into a sitting position and moved to lean against a nearby tree, grudgingly swatting away every concern the others voiced and redirected the conversation towards Yoon and the map. A change of direction the others reluctantly agreed to.

Once they finished their cold leftovers from breakfast, they resumed their walk towards the mountain, and by late afternoon they had almost reached its base.

Shin-Ah walked slower and slower to accommodate for his friend's steadily declining pace and they gradually gave up their previous spot at the front of the group in favour of slowly lacking behind the rest. He cautiously listened to the tall warrior's shallow, laboured breathing and Shin-Ah knew he could not keep quiet any longer when Hak stumbled over a small root. Hak sucked in a hissing, pained breath before a couch rippled through his whole body with enough force to make him drop to his knees, arms tightly wrapped around his aching chest and still in deep hold of the coughing bout. Supporting Hak the best he could, the blue dragon helped the other man sit up a little straighter, hoping it would ease his breathing, and called out to the others, his quiet, solemn voice instantly calling their attention.

"Guys, wait…"

The sound of someone coughing nearby and Shin-Ah's plea brought panic to Yona's already jumpy state, sending her stomach straight down into a char-coaled pit of dread. She turned around, fearing what she would find, and saw Hak kneeling on the ground, his breath coming out in shallow, laboured gasps for air in between harsh coughs, lips having taken a worrisome bluish tint and skin ashen. She hurried over to him, unsure what she could do to help but unwilling to just stand by and watch him suffer. She faintly noticed the others doing the same and was overtaken by Jae-Ha and Kija who rushed past her to help Shin-Ah hold Hak upright, the only thing they could think of to help him breathe.

Once the coughing fit finally subsided, Yoon brought a cup of water up to blue-hued lips, nudging him to drink it in hopes that it would ease a throat that was bound to be sore after its owner's most recent attempt to relieve himself of a lung or two. Hak accepted the drink and greedily gulped it down, raising an eyebrow when he felt the faint taste of honey and lemon mixed in. Yoon really was skilled, the honey soothed his throat and the refreshing liquid helped dispel the dizziness that had taken hold of him and made him trip in the first place.

"Where does it hurt?" Yoon was pretty sure he knew the answer but wanted Hak to voice it, wanted to force him to acknowledge that he was in pain and perhaps, just perhaps, get it through his thick skull that his body's a complete wreck and that he couldn't keep on going like this.

"Chest, hard to breathe, ribs, leg," Hak forced out after a moment's silence, finally having given up all pretenses, teeth gritted in frustration and gaze firmly fixed on his shoes. Embarrassment thickened his throat and made it hard for the words to come out. A simple walk through the forest was enough to bring him to his knees now? Oh how happy he was that the old geezer wasn't here right now, he would never have let him live it down.

"Listen, we are almost at the base of the mountain, we'll help you get there and then we'll set camp for the night, and I don't want to hear a word of protest, okay?" Yoon ordered and Hak simply nodded his agreeance even though they should have been able to cross a much greater distance before the sun set, a testament if any to how low he was feeling.

The dread in Yona's stomach grew bigger as she saw how her bodyguard obediently let Yoon take charge.

After Yoon double checked on the arrow wound on Hak's thigh, satisfied that that it had not reopened, they resumed their slow walk in order to cross the short distance to the base of the mountain, Jae-Ha and Shin-Ah supporting Hak one on each side.

Once they finally arrived they quickly set camp and Hak was being led into the smaller of the two tents, eyes shut firmly closed and out cold the moment his head hit the ground.

* * *

 _So… Hak's not doing too hot at the moment… With the bodyguard's steadily declining health and the soldiers at their heels, what will the group decide on?_


	6. False hope

False hope- a cruel thing indeed.

 _A huge thanks to Zepuka for offering awesome input on this chapter :D_

* * *

When Hak woke up, it was by the tightening of his chest signalling an impending coughing bout, and he quickly sat up in a vain effort to curb the attack. With one fist covering his mouth and the other clutching at his side, he struggled to gain control of his breathing and gritted his teeth against the jolting pain from agitating his ribs when he coughed. Waking up so abruptly jarred his senses and it took a moment for the dizziness to fade before the room stopped spinning and he could gather himself. Once he did, he noted that he had once again been put into the smaller of the tents, and that he was not the only one occupying it. Both Yona and Yoon were swarming around him, most likely trying to gauge his current condition, asking him prodding questions of how he felt. He just nodded, throat being far too sore to offer lengthy descriptions left the tent. From what he could tell it was dark outside, so he could not have slept for too long this time. Both of the younger members of the group tried to stop him from going outside into the cold, but he just raised an eyebrow, not so subtly hinting that sure, they could join him if they wanted to, but he highly doubted they would like to watch him relieve himself.

That earned him a smack over the ear.

"Ow, injured person… here… remember?"

"Yeah, well… don't be so crude then," the princess huffed while Yoon rolled his eyes at the exchange.

"Oi, not my fault… you tried to… stop me," he smirked and left the tent. While still needing to go about his business, it was more a pretext for getting away from prying eyes and over-zealous caring. He was very capable of taking care of himself and there was a limit to how much constant fretting he could stomach. When he stepped out, he found it was indeed completely dark, the only light source being the thin crescent hanging high above the trees and the fires lit around the two tents in the same formation as yesterday. The campsite was empty save Jae-Ha who sat guard next to the fire, elbows leaning on his knees and donning a fairly bored expression. Hak gave him a curt nod and made a note of leaving the campsite, though he had only managed a couple of limping steps towards the edge when the other man stood up with the obvious intention of following him. Hak growled in annoyance, telling him to stay where he was. Why everybody had decided to play babysitter on him was beyond his understanding, and it was more than a little annoying. Jae-Ha however, nonchalantly brushed his complaints aside, shrugging and explaining that he needed to go too, so since they were heading the same way, Hak might as well lean on him. While he was certain Hak could walk by himself, wasn't it easier if he didn't have to?

After a moment of contemplation, gauging the other man's intentions and expression, Hak sighed in resignation. At least Jae-Ha wasn't openly fretting over him as much as the others. He didn't offer a confirmation, or thank you, but he did accept the offered shoulder, and without saying another word, they both made their way to a more secluded spot.

Once they left the edge of the camp, walking a few dozen meters into the forest, Hak spotted a decent enough tree and removed his arm from Jae-ha's shoulder to walk up to it. Leaning one hand on the tree to support himself, he made a note of pulling up his tunic enough to reach the string of his pants, but quickly stopped when he noticed that Jae-ha had followed him to the tree, positioning himself within arm's-length from Hak's side.

"…Do you mind?" The bodyguard asked, eye twitching slightly in a mix of annoyance and disbelief. Seriously, _boundaries_.

"Not at all; please do continue," Jae-Ha grinned, quickly ducking and narrowly avoiding getting socked in the face by the fist Hak aimed at his nose.

"All right, all right, I'll move back; no need to be so touchy about it…"Jae-Ha said, a comment earning him nothing but a scowl and Hak's back turned to him. Only when he was sure Hak wasn't looking at him, he let his grin drop, thin brows furrowing as he took a few steps back. The warmth he felt radiating off of Hak when he was leaning on him didn't bode well…

Once they returned, they found Yoon by the fireplace boiling some herbs that he poured into a cup and handed the ex-general with a 'bottoms up' instruction, but Hak just shook his head, not accepting the cup. Firstly, that cup smelled horrid - seriously, what on earth was in the foul concoction? – Secondly, the constant babysitting was really starting to grate on his nerves. By the sun and the stars, he had just endured having Jae-Ha hanging over his fricking shoulder while he took a piss. If that didn't earn him a medal in patience then he had no clue what would. All he wanted at this stage was to be left alone. "Thanks, but I'm fine… I'm just going to sleep," he muttered and made a move towards the tent.

"Hey, I made the tea-" Yoon started, angrily, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder and a confident smirk on the green dragon's lips.

"What's it for?" Jae-Ha asked, and after a quick explanation, his grin grew wider. "Oi, Hak," he called out, stopping the bodyguard in his tracks just as he was about to crawl into the tent. "I'd drink the tea if I were you. It will help you sleep if nothing else, and I have a feeling you're going to need it."

That was an odd choice of words. Hak doubted he would have any problems falling asleep again; he was already on the verge of passing out as it was, standing if necessary. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's just that besides Yoon… you're sharing a tent with Yona dear as well, and this is just me guessing, but I assume it might get a bit cramped in there. The tent isn't exactly designed to fit three people."

'With…? Oh hell no…' Hak's eyes widened in realisation and he remembered that she had indeed been in the tent when he woke up. It hadn't occurred to him then, as he'd been too busy trying not to hack up a lung to focus on sleeping arrangements, but now it clicked. It only took a moment before he grabbed the cup out of Yoon's hands, tipped his head back, and emptied it in one swig, his face twisting into a disgusted grimace, it really was foul, but anything was better than lying awake with the princess pressed flush against him. When the sound of an amused snort drew his attention to the other side of the fire where Jae-Ha had sat down, he turned to glare at the intolerable dragon. "Yes?"

"Oh, nothing at all dear Hak, I was just pondering if I should tell Yona that you'd rather get drugged than sleep next to her…"

Narrowing his eyes and cocking his head slightly, Hak instantly shut down that particular idea as he snarled out a warning, "Droopy eyes…"

"Ah, you're no fun at all."

Deciding he had well and truly filled his quota of both over-caring kids and infuriating dragons, Hak turned around to ignore them both and crawled back into the tent. Once inside he just gave Yona a quick nod before lying down and closing his eyes, more exhausted from just that short stint of wakefulness than he would care to admit, and soon drifted off again.

…

Neither Yoon nor Yona got any proper sleep that night.

They were lying in the tent listening to the congested snores of the bodyguard and the way his breath would catch on every inhale and exhale. He felt warm; not overly so, but enough to worry them both. When he had woken up, just after midnight, it had been to a coughing bout that made Yona's stomach tighten anxiously. Yoon had stepped out to boil him some healing tea and so Yona was left alone in the tent with nothing but her worry to entertain her. When Hak returned and went back to sleep, as quickly as he had passed out earlier that afternoon, she scooted over, gently touching his forehead with the back of her palm, more in a subconscious attempt to calm herself down than anything else. Though the moment her hand touched his skin she pulled back in surprise. He was much warmer than she had anticipated, and the lump of uneasiness that as of recently seemed to have taken up permanent residence in the pit of her stomach, grew even bigger. Denial and despair haunted her thoughts, playing dirty tricks on her mind; Hak wasn't getting sick, it was impossible. It couldn't be happening, not right now, not out here. How could they care for him out here in the middle of nowhere?

"He feels warmer now than before," she voiced out loud when it occurred to her to let Yoon know, and she received an annoyed huff of agreeance in response from the young healer.

"We'll just have to keep an eye on him throughout the night. You should go to sleep Yona. I'll watch him."

"It's okay, I'm not tired. You go to sleep. I'll wake you up if anything changes," she insisted and Yoon sighed, well knowing she wouldn't budge.

"Fine, but wake me up in two hours, if nothing has changed. We'll sleep in shifts, ok?"

"Yes, that sounds good," she agreed. Though it soon became evident that Yoon would not be able to get those hours of rest; the thunder beast grew warmer and soon a thin sheet of perspiration began coating his forehead, and as his temperature rose, so did Yona's worry.

When Hak let out a small whimper, his face pulled into a pained grimace, Yona felt like crying. She gently nudged Yoon awake, and when he blearily opened his eyes, she just pointed towards Hak, the lump in her throat making it impossible to form proper words. Sitting up and rubbing the little sleep he had gotten out of his eyes, Yoon moved over to check on Hak. After noting his temperature, he asked Yona to fetch a bowl of water with a little bit of snow chucked in. He was going to use the cold water to soak rags that they could use to cool Hak down with. Finally having something concrete focus on, Yona quickly obeyed his request. Busying her hands felt far better than just sitting in the darkness and listen to Hak's uneven breathing. While it wasn't much, at least it was something she could do to help, and the simple task helped elevate the feelings of helplessness and uselessness that threatened to subdue her completely whenever she looked down on Hak's unconscious form.

The following hours went by agonisingly slow as they battled his steadily rising fever. Yoon boiled another tea, a fever-reducing one this time, but no matter how much they tried, they could not wake him up enough for him to drink it. When they both fruitlessly tried to shake him awake, the tears Yona had held back threatened to once again burst forward and she swallowed hard to keep them at bay. By the time the first light trailed across the horizon, they were both exhausted, and yet no sign of improvement was evident. If anything, Hak's condition had only seemed to worsen as the night progressed, skin now flushed and hot to the touch, and he occasionally whimpered quietly in-between the shallow wheezing and small coughs that found their way through his lips.

When the others woke up, it was quickly decided that the thunder beast could no longer continue on their path across the mountain. He was clearly not able to keep walking on his own, and they decided that him being carried while they followed the trail was not good enough either. If he were to get better, he needed to come inside into the warmth, not bear the harsh elements of winter, and so it was decided that Jae-Ha would take him across the mountain, find the closest settlement, and hopefully find someone who could help Hak once there.

He set out as soon as the sun had raised itself enough in the sky for him to see where to jump. As Kija and Shin-Ah brought Hak out of the tent, Yona turned to Jae-Ha.

"I… um… I just wanted to… um, ask… pleasetakecareofhim?" She blurted out, clearly embarrassed about having come forward with such a request, but the worry reflected in her lavender eyes made Jae-Ha's throat tighten.

"Of course I will, you-" he started, but was cut of short by an enraged Yoon shouting angrily at Kija as the white dragon hoisted the unconscious man up to hang him across Jae-Ha's left shoulder:

"No, you idiotic beasts, what do you think you're doing?! You can't throw him over his shoulder. He has trouble breathing for heaven's sake, how do think dangling upside down will help with that?!" The young sandy-blonde teenager lashed out. Once he was satisfied with how they positioned Hak, he held out two small pouches for Jae-Ha.

"Here, take these. The one with the green threading contains coriander. Boil it and let him drink it if he wakes up; it should help reduce the fever. The pouch with purple threading contains poppy-seeds and salve for the pain. They have to be ground first and then boiled to a tea, but it'll make him groggy so only use it as a last resort."

"Yes, yes, I will, and don't worry about us, mom. Just hurry and climb the mountain as quick as you can and meet us on the other side, okay?" Jae-Ha replied and packed away the pouches into the inner pocket of his coat. Then, when he received the affirmative nod from the others he was looking for, he lifted his hand to wave goodbye and jumped up high in the air.

It took him no more than a couple of hours to scale the mountain, but by the time he came down into the valley on the other side, his legs were beginning to strain and his back ache -geeze this guy was heavy. Not to mention that he had stayed up the second part of the night before on guard-duty, and he could feel the lack of sleep beginning to weigh on him now.

Hak had barely stirred the whole time, not more than occasionally shifting slightly to find a more comfortable position, or perhaps more accurately, one that allowed him to breathe a little bit less strained, and coughing in response to the height difference when Jae-Ha had to drop down to the ground to gather momentum before leaping into the air again. It was midmorning by the time they reached the other side of the mountain and the knot of worry in Jae-Ha's stomach loosened a little when he found a cluster of huts at its base. It was not big enough to be called a village, but Jae-Ha didn't care. If there would be anyone there with some basic healing skills, he would be happy. He dropped down just outside the cluster of small buildings, in a small grove, as he suspected falling down from the sky would probably be not so well received, and started walking. He had only taken a couple of steps when he felt his burden shift, woken up by the change in altitude, and cough into his shoulder, asking to be dropped down on the ground.

"Are you sure? I can carry you. It's not far. There're a few houses just up ahead."

"Yeah, I'll manage… Let me walk," Hak insisted, he was not about to be carried by the green-haired dragon when they met other people. While he had taken several devastating blows to his pride in the last few days, he still had some sort of dignity left to preserve.

Jae-Ha threw him a sceptical glance, but he was, in fact, fairly tired. His muscles ached and could really use the respite, so he dropped Hak down on the ground and instead offered his shoulder for the other to lean on. Once Hak was on the ground again, leaning on Jae-Ha, he looked around with a confused frown.

"Where are we? Where are the others?"

"They're on their way. We just went ahead a bit."

"What? We left them behind?" Hak growled as anger surged through him, and he pulled away from the support of the other man. Ignoring his own situation, he couldn't stop coming back to the fact that they had abandoned the others. More so, because they had, without informing him, decided he couldn't keep going, Jae-Ha, one of the three remaining skilled fighters had willingly left the princess he was meant to protect, and taken Hak with him.

Jae-Ha stopped at that. His own frustrations over the events he felt he had little control over coming to a boil as well. Nonetheless, he wasn't about to let Hak know how worried he was about him, so instead of giving a straight answer, he opted for rolling his eyes and letting a decent amount of taunt permeate his tone as he answered.

"Like it or not, we had to prioritise and we needed to get you somewhere warm. I don't know if you noted, but you're sporting a fever high enough to make _me_ sweat, not something I'm particularly fond of, I'll have you know. It's so unsanitary, not to talk about ugly and undignified… So, you can complain about it as much as you like, but I'm taking you to the village up ahead, and you just have to suck it up," he mocked, his gibe quickly generating the desired reaction from the bodyguard, who scowled and closed his fists warningly in response.

"Droopy eyes, I'll-"

"Yeah? What was that? You'll have to catch me first you know…" he taunted, stepping just out of Hak's reach in order to get his point further across. There was no way Hak was going to be able to get one on the agile dragon right now, and they both knew it.

Hak wasn't happy with the outcome, but, as Jae-Ha had so kindly pointed out, he was in no position, or condition, to change anything, not considering how much his legs shook from just standing, or how much his ribs hurt from the effort of trying not to cough. Every bone in his body was aching and he was shivering like a leaf in the wind from the chills running down his spine, while simultaneously wishing he could rip his clothes off to cool down. Long story short, he felt like utter crap, but that still didn't mean he had to be happy about the fact that they had left the others behind, so he turned away from the intolerable man, opting for ignoring him rather than allowing himself to be drawn into his ridiculous games.

Seeing Hak tense and turn away from him, and having a pretty good idea of what was going through the body guard's head, Jae-Ha sighed. It was time to redirect the conversation.

"Water? Bet you're thirsty?" He asked instead, and Hak gratefully accepted the water pouch, emptying it in one big swig, quickly following it up with a series of coughs strong enough to force him down on his knees, gasping for air, in response to downing the water too hastily. Once he got his breathing somewhat under control, and Jae-Ha hauled him up on his feet again, they slowly began making their way to the closest house.

Soon enough though, the green dragon came to regret letting the thunder beast down on the ground instead of carrying him as they stumbled along the path. With every step Hak slumped a little bit more, leaning heavier on Jae-Ha, and quickly running out of breath. By the time they reached the front door, he was closer to complete unconsciousness than ever before barely remaining on his two feet and shivering violently in the cold. With no strength left to hold his head up, it lolled from side to side when Jae-Ha frantically knocked on the door.

When the door opened, an elderly lady of petite build appeared. She took in the sight of the couple: a green-haired, tall man supporting another who was obviously very ill, and opened the door wider, stepping aside to allow them inside.

"Oh dear, please come in. Here follow me, bring him in here and lay him down on the futon," she said, gesturing towards a simple bed in the middle of the single room as Jae-Ha carried and gently lowered him down on the bed she had directed them to.

"Thank you so much for taking us in, my lady. You have no idea how grateful I am, and this idiot will be too when he wakes up," Jae-Ha said, nodding his head in Hak's direction.

"Oh, dear, I do not wish to give you false hopes. I'll do what I can but your friend is clearly very ill and I am by no means a trained healer…"


	7. Hobson's Choice

_Hobson's choice- in which Jae-Ha's options are dwindling, fast._

 _AN: Somewhere around here -I should probably have done so much earlier- I would like to insert a disclaimer:_

 _I am by no means a health care professional and whatever you read in here is the result of google researching of hypothermia, near drowning, complications, and old school healing techniques, aka: from before antibiotics, oxygen and all the other goodies modern medicine can offer, was invented._

 _Zepuka, my friend, my hero, has once again helped me by beta reading this chapter. She's awesome._

* * *

"… _your friend is very ill, and I am by no means a trained healer."_

The words sent a surge of dread through Jae-Ha's chest. "Is there someone else here then that I can ask for help?" He asked, only to receive a weak smile and a head-shake in return before the elderly lady focused on Hak to see what she could do for him.

"Not really. You were lucky it was my door you knocked on first, but I have a feeling that was more because you just crossed the mountain and my house was the closest… Anyhow, I've picked up a few things here and there and I'm the closest this village has to a healer, but I never received an official training." She explained before briefly disappearing out through the door to fill it up from a barrel outside the house. Once she returned, she sat down next to the sick man on the bed again, dipping a rag in the water and wiping down his sweaty forehead with it. "I'll do what I can, but as I said, I've only picked up a thing or two here and there out of necessity, to help the people in the village when I can. We are at least a couple of days away from the capital with horse and carriage you see," she sighed, before continuing. "The best solution would be to take him to the capital. They have great healers, but… as I said, it does take a couple of days to travel, and while I'm sure that we could borrow a horse and carriage from the baker, I honestly don't think he'd be able to cope with a trip that long."

Jae-Ha nodded to signify that he had heard and understood. Subconsciously, his hand moved up to the inner pocket of his long tunic, grabbing the small pouches Yoon had given him only a few hours earlier, and clutched them until his knuckles whitened. Wouldn't they be enough? Why wouldn't a warm bed, fluids, and the fever-reducing medicine Yoon had given him be enough? Then again, if it wasn't...

He knew Hak was opposed to going back to his hometown, and that he had good reason to, but the green-haired dragon was running out of options, fast.

"I can get him there much quicker if you're sure they'll be able to help him?"

…

The sun was set high in the sky when Jae-Ha finally spotted the capital in the distance. A big town was spreading out in front of him, with the biggest, most eye-catching building seated upon a hill behind the rest of the town. Groaning in annoyance, he shook his head. Of course the mansion, which must be the home of Hak, had to be built on a damn hill… He landed at the base, still not sure that falling down from the sky without any notice would earn him a warm welcome, and set to carry Hak up the stairs to his home. The other man hung limply off his back and shoulders, and unlike when they had landed the last time, he did not stir, not even once- an alarming fact that made Jae-Ha, despite his fatigue, quicken his pace, practically running up the steep angle to the manor.

…

Tae-Woo had just gotten out of another boring lecture from Elder Mundok about when in the season to set new rice seeds to ensure a rich harvest. He crossed the court-yard and joined Saki and Han-Dae on their watch duty which, in reality, comprised of the two blondes playing dice and accusing each other of cheating. He stood above his two friends who were seated on the ground at the gate and therefore spotted the odd sight first. A green-haired man approaching, carrying another on his- wait, Tae-Woo recognised the blue clothes and the dark hair… Hak! It was Lord Hak, and he was obviously not well.

In that moment, the green-haired man spotted the three youngsters, sighed in relief, and shouted at them to come and help him. With wide eyes, all three of them rushed to meet the stranger.

"Hey," the man panted, sweat coating his forehead despite the chill in the wind. "Man, am I glad to see you guys. Hak needs help; you know him, right?"

"Yeah, of course. Here, let him down; we'll carry him for you," Tae-Woo quickly replied, already grabbing onto the unconscious man in order to take over, though he swiftly pulled his hand back in surprise when his fingers touched the flushed skin, eyes widening again.

"He's burning up. We'll have to get him inside, right now!" The young general ordered. Quickly gathering himself from the initial shock of seeing his lord returning home in such a terrible state, he addressed one of the other teens. "Han-Dae, run and get Elder Miku. Saki and I'll take Lord Hak to one of the guest rooms; tell her to meet us there."

"Yes, Lord Tae-Woo," the blonde nodded, bolting towards the house.

"…and stop calling me that!"

As they carried Hak across the courtyard, the blonde - Saki, looked over to the other. "How is this possible…? I thought?" He said hesitantly, in a low voice.

"Yeah, so did I, but it doesn't matter, he's here now," the one called Tae-Woo answered, equally subdued, and Jae-Ha looked up when he heard how thick his voice was. The kid was close to tears…

As soon as they eased the shivering bodyguard down on the empty futon in the room they had brought him to, and covered him in a thick blanket, the teen named Tae-Woo spoke to his friend, giving a quick order to find Elder Mundok. The blonde nodded and disappeared down the corridor just as Hak began to stir, pulled back to semi-consciousness by the shift in altitude and position. He groaned in pain as another suffocatingly wet coughing-bout took hold, making him roll over on his side and curl into a ball. Cradling his chest and gasping for air in-between each cough, he fought to force the oxygen down, helped by Tae-Woo and Jae-Ha who quickly lifted him up into a semi-upright sitting position. With his face scrunched up in pain, he bent his head down further and it almost sounded like he was choking on something as he desperately tried to rid himself of the suffocating phlegm stuck in his chest before coughing up a mouthful of rusty-coloured mucus into his fist.

' _Well that's new, and gross_ ,' Jae-Ha noted dryly, nose wrinkled in disgust, and quickly pulled out an intricately decorated hankie out of his inner pocket. He quickly handed it over to the bodyguard before Hak could come to think about wiping it off on the blanket, which was the only other piece of fabric readily available. That poor piece of material would have to be burned later...

He shifted his gaze away from the sight for a moment, making a deliberate decision to ignore the fact that Hak was now coughing up blood-specked gunk.

"W-Where am I?" Hak rasped out as his gaze trailed the room, trying to focus on his surroundings; teeth clattering miserably as he ditched the tissue on the floor.

"Your fever must be pretty bad if you don't recognise your own home, Lord Hak," Tae-woo commented, lips pulled into what he hoped could be taken for a reassuring smile, drawing Hak's attention to himself.

"Tae-Woo? What are? …How?" Hak forced out, and the younger man cringed internally when he looked straight into the eyes of his previous commander, noticing well how the usual sharpness had been replaced by fever-dulled confusion. Then he saw recognition glimmer for a second in Hak's eyes before he glared at the man who brought him there. "Why did you… take me here… you know we can't… go to Fuuga," he questioned while pushing himself up so that he sat up without support.

"Ah, but I really wanted to meet your family; they seem very nice. Besides, decision-making is only for the conscious. If you wanted to be a part of the process, then you shouldn't be napping," Jae-Ha countered in jest. Avoiding the notion that it had been the last resort when it became clear that Hak needed more care than the old lady they had first imposed themselves on could provide.

"Whatever… we're leaving, now," Hak stubbornly maintained, glaring at the dragon and pushing himself up to his knees in order to stand, ignoring the dizziness that made his head spin and his vision blur. He didn't get very far though as he was halted halfway by a familiar voice and two palms on his chest gently pushing him down again. He found in dismay that he simply lacked the strength to resist, weakly falling back onto the futon

"If you think I'd let my own grandson walk out of here while he is so sick he can barely sit up, then your illness must have rendered you delirious."

"Gramps, I can't stay. You know-" Hak still tried to argue, even as he was being pushed further down on the bed, but was cut short by another set of harsh coughs that left him breathless and dizzy. Accepting the handkerchief Jae-ha had reluctantly retrieved from the floor when he'd resumed his coughing, Hak spat out another lump of mucus into the already-soiled folds.

"Yes, I do know, and that's another discussion, for when you're feeling better. Now rest. There isn't much more you can do. I'd like to see you try to take on all of us to fight your way out of here…"

As much as he hated to admit it, the old geezer was right, there was no way he could leave if they put their minds to making him stay, not when he could barely sit up without swaying. Besides, the short argument had left him feeling drained again, and soon his faint grasp of consciousness began to fade once more.

Once he was sure his grandson had returned to sleep and would not try anymore ridiculous flight attempts, he turned to the strange man that had taken a step back to quietly observe the situation when Saki and he had entered the room. Mundok had seen a lot of strange sights in his life, and he hadn't thought much could surprise him anymore, but hair as green as grass was a first, he had to admit. He had many questions to ask, though he was halted before he had a chance to voice any of them as Miku joined them with Han-Dae in tow. The latter had his hands full of blankets, rags, and a basket filled with small herb-jars. The elderly woman quickly took in the situation, barked an order for the youngster to put the herbs down next to Lord Hak, and sent Saki to fetch water - both a cold bowl and a boiling pot - before getting to work. She began by checking his vitals, taking in his overall appearance, frowning when she felt the hot forehead against the back of her palm and the accelerated pulse underneath her fingertips. She looked up and signalled for the green-haired man to come closer.

"You there, you're the one that brought him here, yes? Can you please tell me everything you know? It will be faster and more efficient than me searching for what's wrong."

"Yes, of course, my lady. Now, I wasn't actually there when it happened, but from what I've been told, Hak was protecting…" Jae-Ha stopped himself for a moment in hesitation before resuming his explanation, "…a friend, when he was shot." He paused, and pointed his chin towards the bandage on Hak's thigh, just above the knee. The old lady nodded absently as she continued her own investigation while listening, pulling apart his tunic to get a better view of the bandages she could feel underneath his clothing.

"…And fell into a frozen river. I am not exactly sure how long he was in there, but it was long enough I'd say, and he swallowed a lot of water," Jae-Ha explained, shuddering in remembrance of just how much water Hak had brought back up when he vomited, how cold he'd been when Jae-Ha pulled him out, the dread when he wouldn't wake up, and how long it had taken them to get him warm again. "He has a couple of broken ribs too, and he took a blow to the head," he continued before stopping himself as the old woman promptly dropped her ear down on Hak's chest while holding up a finger to signal that she needed the room to be quiet for a moment. She didn't stay down long though, and when she pulled herself back up to sit upright; her frown had deepened as she nodded for him to continue.

"That was… two days ago. He has a cough that only seems to be getting worse, and last night the fever started. Also, he um… insisted on spending yesterday walking… that probably didn't help much," Jae-Ha finished, habitually flicking his locks out of his face with his wrist.

"He did what!? Out of all the idiotic…" Puffing her cheeks out in irritation, she let out an irritated huff before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "I see, thank you, young man. That will be all. Han-Dae, can you please bring more pillows, it will be easier for him to breathe if he isn't lying down flat. The rest of you, out of here, now," she finished, directing her order to all the men in the room before adding in a short 'please', almost as an afterthought, and they all obliged without any protests. Even Jae-Ha, who only met the elderly, tiny lady a few moments ago, quickly realised she was used to being obeyed, and, trusting her to take good care of Hak, left the room with no objections.

When they stepped into the corridor, they found a large group of people impatiently waiting, with Saki in the middle. He was carrying a bucket of water in one hand and a steaming pot in the other, donning a sheepish expression.

"I told them that Lord Hak was home, and they all wanted to come and see for themselves," The blonde teen explained before the crowd broke into an excited chatter, bombarding the small group with questions. Jae-Ha could only make out the occasional sentence amongst the excited commotion, such as 'Is it true?', 'Is the young Lord really home?', and 'Saki said he's sick?' from among the din, but before he could answer, Mundok stepped forward to address the crowd.

"Calm down everybody. Yes he's home, but this cannot be publically known… and yes, he's ill, and what he needs is rest. Now, go back about your day and you can all meet him when he's feeling better," he answered the wound-up crowd, and they obediently scattered, muttering excitedly among themselves.

Jae-Ha filed all these interactions away as he took them in: the crying teenager, the sensible grandfather, and the gathering of people outside Hak's door. Despite his worry, he could not help but find it fascinating to see Hak's people reacting to his unexpected homecoming. It was clearly invoking a lot of feelings and the respect they held for their previous commander seemed true and honest. While Jae-Ha had seen all sorts of family interactions since he left his own village, it never stopped to intrigue him how others interacted with their kindred. He could not help but draw parallels, images and memories of his own upbringing flicking through his mind. Somewhere, deep down, he could not help compare the welcome Hak was given, and in extension his own, to the less friendly one he would receive for sure if he ever were to return to the place where he was born. Being thrown right back into shackles, treated like a criminal whose only offence had been to be born, punished for daring to wish for something as simple as freedom, that would be his fate. He was certain of one thing; the kinship Hak clearly shared with his tribe was something Jae-Ha would never experience with his own village. Deep in thought, he almost failed to notice when the elderly man that Hak had called 'gramps,' spoke to him.

"As an Elder of the Wind Tribe," I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards you who brought my grandson back to us."

"Ah, don't worry about it. We've all be worried and I only did what I thought was best for him, despite him not being particularly happy about it. I imagine he'll want to flog my hide and decorate a wall with it when he wakes up again," Jae-Ha joked, but the look on the older man's face soon stopped him.

"We…? So there are more of you? Tell me, were you possibly travelling with a young girl? You said he was protecting someone, was it her?"

"You know her then? Yeah she's fine; she and the others should be here in a few days' time. We had soldiers at our heels though when I left them to cross the mountain and… Are you all right sir?" Jae-Ha stopped himself when he saw the distant look in the eyes of the elder man.

"Oh, um, yes absolutely, it is just very comforting to hear that she is well. Thank you for bringing us the news. I doubt they would dare enter our territory, but we'll be prepared if they do. Now can I offer you some food and something to drink?"


	8. Delirium

_Chapter 8: Delirium- fragments of a rambling mind._

 _Beta-read by the fabulous ZePuKa and brought to you by an unhealthy combination of caffeine and chocolate binging. I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Once Jae-Ha had been shown the hospitality of the Wind tribe, and given the elderly man a quick rundown of how they ended up in the situation to start, he knew he needed to get back to the others to ensure that they had made it to the border safely and inform them of where he had taken Hak. While he thought that they should have been able to cross the border into the relative safety of the Wind Tribe before the soldiers caught up with them (they had, after all, at least one day's head start), it would ease his mind if he could verify this fact with his own eyes. Hak had previously explained that as the Wind tribe had accepted as king, and after Soo-Won's efforts to unite the five clans, the soldiers were unlikely to risk agitating the current treaty by entering their territory with hostile intentions. As soon as Jae-Ha was finished with his meal, he stood up with the intention of checking in on Hak before finding to them, but the old man, Hak's grandfather, informed him that he had already arranged for a group of mounted men to meet them and bring them to Fuuga.

Jae-Ha knew that he would be faster than any horse, and thus could reach the others quicker. It would, however, be undeniably faster if they all could get on horseback rather than walking for a good couple of days. Still, to ease his own mind, he decided to head out to meet the rest of the group rather than just sit here waiting for them. At least then he could inform them that Hak was now receiving treatment in Fuuga.

Upon reaching Hak's room again, he was more than a little surprised to find not only Hak there, but also a young child. The boy could not be older than six or seven at the most, and he beamed up at Jae-Ha when he entered.

"You must be Jae-Ha. I'm Tae-Yeon. Thank you for bringing my big brother home."

Jae-Ha blinked. 'Big brother'? Hak had never mentioned anything about a brother, and they weren't even remotely similar. Didn't seem to matter though, for despite acting cheerful, it was clear that the little guy was worried for Hak, judging by the quick glances he kept throwing his way.

"Ah, don't mention it. Are you watching him? How is he?" He asked and moved closer, though he quickly gathered that it wasn't the right question. Not if the disheartened look in the little boy's eyes were anything to go by.

"Yes; only while Elder Miku is making some more medicine. He woke up a little while ago and had some water and some medicine, but… he didn't really recognise me…" the child explained, and for once Jae-Ha was at a loss for words.

Hak had already started showing small signs of delirium the last time he woke up, and it was honestly not that surprising, considering how high his fever was. Knowing this and trying to act encouraging in front of a little kid who obviously hadn't seen his brother in a long time, for at least as long as Jae-Ha had known Hak, was going to prove difficult. Still, he had to at least try.

"Hey, Kiddo. He's going to be fine; your brother's more stubborn than an ox and just about as strong. He'll probably have my hide when he wakes up for saying this, but he just needs you to watch over him for a little while longer, okay?" He answered, and the rewarding giggle and newly lit determination in the boy's eyes made his small speech well worth the effort.

Deciding he had done everything he could, he gave the kid a reassuring smile, a pat on the shoulder, and explained that he would leave for a little while, but would be back soon, trusting him to take care of Hak in the meantime. His comment was met with a series of nods so fierce that Jae-Ha could not help but think it had to give the little guy a headache.

Once he left the room, he made his way outside for it was time to go meet the others. It felt ridiculously good to be soaring again. The familiar rush of leaping up into the air, feeling the cold wind against his exposed skin, and seeing the snow-clad lakes and hillside underneath glitter in the afternoon sun as he swept past it all brought renewed vigour to his limbs and mind. However, while his head felt clearer and he felt lighter again now that he didn't have to carry Hak, the worry for his friend still weighed heavy on his mind, darkened his thoughts and left a sour aftertaste to the otherwise familiar exhilaration of seeing the land from above as he leaped up high in the sky.

He quickly found the clan-men Mundok sent and overtook them without them even knowing. When he reached the base of the mountain he spotted Yona and the others as they made their way down. Being glad to see that they had made such swift progress, he landed next to them and greeted them with a smile.  
After the initial greetings were over and done with, Yoon went straight to the point:

"Hak isn't with you? Where is he? How is he, and what did you do with him?" The young boy asked, and while Jae-Ha knew he was just worried, he couldn't help but get a tiny bit annoyed at that. Perhaps his own weariness made him an ounce irritable, but honestly what did the kid think? That Jae-Ha had dumped him at a bar, or in a ditch, or something? Making a panicked face, he whipped his head around to look over his shoulder, and then quickly dipped it to check under both his armpits before looking back up at Yoon's very unimpressed face again with a frantic expression.

"…Crap, must've dropped him."

"Very funny," Yoon deadpanned and rolled his eyes in irritation. Could the damn beast not be serious for one minute?

"I took him down to the small village you can see from here," Jae-Ha replied in a more serious tone once he saw that Yoon wasn't in the mood for some stress-relieving antics, and pointed down towards the small bundle of huts huddled together at the base of the mountain. "But no one there could help him, only an old lady that said my best bet would be Fuuga. So I took him there. He wasn't happy about it, but not awake when the decision was made, so he can't complain about it too much. I imagine he'll want to use me as a sparring bag once he wakes up… Gosh, I've been saying that a lot lately, I really will be in trouble… Anyhow, when I left he was sleeping but he's been a bit confused," he finished, perhaps glossing over a couple of details, but there was no point in worrying them more than necessary, especially not a young, red-haired girl that was hanging onto his every word, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Mm… not very surprising. Well, I guess we'll head there then," Yoon mulled, more thinking out loud than directing his thoughts to anyone in particular.

"Ah, about that, I hope you weren't too fond of walking. There are Wind tribe people on their way to greet us. They have horses," Jae-Ha explained, and the rest of the group lit up at the thought of the coming respite. The last few days had been nothing short of eventful, stressful, and straining and they all looked forward to the idea of being given a ride to a friendly destination.

Then Yona, who had been quiet up until then, spoke:

"I know you are tired, and you have no idea how much I appreciate everything you have done, but… I…" she sighed and hesitated for a moment, biting her lip nervously. Then she took a deep breath and continued, "I know I shouldn't ask this of you, but… could you please take me to Fuuga? I know the horses are on their way, and I know you are tired, but I…"

"You want to see him, don't you?" Jae-Ha filled in, an understanding smile playing in the corner of his lips. "Of course, we'll go now."

When Yona and Jae-Ha returned, the day had long since ended and Jae-Ha could no longer ignore how utterly shattered he was, almost falling asleep standing. The reunion of Yona and her 'Uncle Mundok' had been a dear sight, one he would probably have enjoyed more if the spots covering his vision weren't so insistent on interfering with the touching scene. Deciding he would sit down for just a moment, he leaned his back against the wall of the mansion and slid down into a sitting position, and in doing so accidentally called the attention of the two others. Seeing Yona's guilt-ridden face when she focused her attention on him made him want to crack a joke to ease her mind, but his exhaustion-muddled brain refused to cooperate, so he merely smiled sleepily, reassuring her that he was just a bit tired. Mundok showed him to a room that had been set aside for him and he gratefully threw himself down on the futon.

It had been a very long day indeed.

…

Jae-Ha wasn't the only one bone-tired.

Yona, who had stayed up most of the night before to care for Hak while they were still at the other side of the mountain-range, and spent the better part of the day crossing it, could feel the weariness sink deeper into her exhausted body. Her limbs felt heavy and her eyelids stung from the continued effort of keeping them open. However, she hadn't come here to sleep. She wanted to see him before she could rest, so when Uncle Mundok offered to take her to her room, she smiled up at the kind old man, but politely declined. He nodded in understanding and led her to Hak's room instead, and as they walked down the hallway, the knot in Yona's stomach tightened so fiercely that it made her want to throw up.

As they turned the corner that would lead them to Hak's room, they saw Elder Miku step out from within. After inquiring about his health, Yona found out that he was awake, for the moment, but that his fever was still high. The Elder went on to describe his condition more in depth, mentioning something about water in his lungs and a bad infection but Yona could barely focus on what was being said. She just wanted to _see_ him, and she must not have been able to hide her impatience very well, for the healer halted herself midsentence and smiled kindly down on the young girl. Then she nodded towards the door, nudging Yona to go in there herself.

She found him blearily opening his eyes and looking up when she entered the room, probably expecting the elder to return, and she abruptly halted, sucking in a surprised breath as she laid her eyes on him. She hadn't seen him since early that morning, and as the sun now had set several hours ago, she had, naively perhaps, hoped that he would look better the next time she saw him. It always seemed like he bounced back unnaturally easily from whatever ailed him at the time, and the fact that he still looked so pale and drawn frightened her. He was so strong, always cladding himself in an identity of invulnerability, that it was easy to forget that he was, in fact, simply human. This blatant reminder had been a jarring experience from the start and it only continued to grow stronger as she watched him. His skin was bone-white except for the flush on his cheeks from the fever, and his breathing still strained.

"Princess?" He muttered, forming the title as a question, and propped himself up on his elbow before following the first enquiry with another: "What?... What are you… doing here, Princess?" He asked, and the words explaining that she was brought there by Jae-Ha got stuck in her throat when he continued; "Did you sneak … out of the castle… or something? The King… won't be pleased… when he realises... you ran away… from home."

She could only stare at him for a moment.

Yes, she had been warned that he was only more or less lucid, the fever making him confused, but she hadn't anticipated this. She swallowed in a vain attempt to force down the knot in her throat and the disbelief that washed over her when she heard him talk about her father and the castle, and forced herself to move closer to him, sitting down on the floor next to his futon.

"Don't worry about that, I came because you're not well. Just go back to sleep and I'll watch you," she reassured, and for a moment he seemed content with her vague explanation, his eyelids dropping and a quirked smile playing in the corner of his lips as he relaxed. Then his fever-glossed eyes widened.

"No, you shouldn't… be here. What if you… get sick too? You need to leave now," he insisted and struggled to sit up, probably to force her to leave, but the motion made his chest tighten and he got caught up in another suffocating coughing fit. She helped him sit up and lean forward; just like she'd seen the others do for him earlier, while the spell lasted. Once he caught his breath again, she pushed him back onto the futon, marvelling over the fact that she _could_ force him down, and ensured him that she was not going to catch anything, and that he should stop being such a worry wart and go back to sleep.

"Worry wart, huh?" He slurred, already half asleep again. "I have to say… Princess… It almost sounds like… you're worried… about me…" he muttered, perhaps more to himself than anything, and went silent for so long that Yona thought he had indeed gone back to sleep. When he eventually spoke again, she almost jumped from pure fright.

"Do you remember… when you asked… me to sleep with you?" He asked, chuckling to himself, as if he had said something funny.

"Yes, I remember. I had a nightmare… are you having nightmares?" She asked, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"No… well, no… That's not why I brought it up… This is the opposite… you know?" He explained, and it clicked for the young princess. He was pointing out that this time, she was watching him, and knowing Hak, he probably found the whole situation incredibly ironic. He didn't give her a chance to answer before continuing though: "I felt honoured… that you asked me… That you trusted me to help you… scare away the ghosts of your bad dreams."

Yona could barely keep it together at the sudden onslaught of information. The fever must really have loosened his tongue; she knew that he would never admit anything like that if he was himself, and it almost felt like eavesdropping on something she were not meant to hear despite him addressing her directly.

From his reactions at the time, she had thought he found the request annoying and childish, and now all this? It was far too much to take in. She felt the tip of her ears grow warm and shifted, turning her head away so that he wouldn't see her blushing. However, she soon realised her efforts to hide her embarrassment was pointless when she heard the, by now, familiar sound of congested snoring. He had gone back to sleep so quickly that she had not even noticed. The mundane noise somehow helped ground her, and once she had ensured herself that he was indeed no longer conscious, she allowed herself one deep, shaky breath to calm down, scolding herself for getting so worked up over his words.

She moved her hand to check his temperature, gently brushing aside the sweaty locks. Why she was surprised that the fever hadn't yet dropped was beyond her, all the evidence was telling otherwise, not to mention that she had been warned, but she still was, and she frowned at the heat radiating off him. She let her hand drop and instead picked up the wet cloth that had fallen off him, re-dipping it in the basin of water next to her and repositioning it across his temple again.

She had calmed down from the panic his delirium had brought forward, but could not shake the uneasiness that closely followed. Her mind was in tumult, both from the fever-induced confession that he cherished a memory she had thought was annoying to him, and the earlier talk about her father and the castle. Forcing all thoughts of his confession aside, she focused on the more difficult subject of his delirium.

Logically, his train of thought was not entirely wrong, or surprising. If he was coherent enough to recognise her, and to understand that he was home, in Fuuga, then it was not surprising that it would be confusing for him why she was there, visiting him. He clearly wasn't lucid enough to follow, judging by how he talked he thought they were still living in the castle and that the betrayal had never happened.

It didn't help though; to approach the subject logically did little to reduce the shock and pain of hearing him talk about times long gone and people that weren't here anymore, and the young princess remained seated on the same spot, lost in deep thought.

Having been so focused on her own thoughts, she failed to notice when a middle-aged woman entered the room and walked up to the princess. Not until the lady sat down next to Yona and spoke did she realise she wasn't alone anymore; the soft voice startled the princess and pulled her out of her depressive train of thought.  
"Hi there, I'm not sure if you remember me, but we met the last time you came to Fuuga to visit. You look very tired. You should go to bed. Elder Miku sent me to watch over Lord Hak overnight so you don't have to," she explained and Yona nodded.

"Ah, thank you, I… I'll go to bed soon…"

"…Come now sweetie, you look like you're dead on your feet. I understand you're worried and I promise I'll wake you up if anything changes, but we need to get you into bed too," she coaxed and Yona had to reluctantly agree. She didn't want to, but the kind woman's voice seemed to come from very far away and she found herself unable to focus on what the older woman were trying to convey.

Once Yona was led to a room that had been prepared for her and laid down, sleep found and claimed her within moments, both body and mind well beyond exhaustion from the last couple of stressful days and last night's lack of sleep.


	9. Family

_Chapter 9. Family- Both old and new_

 _Woho! Made it all the way to the end._

 _Beta-read by the fabulous fanofthisfiction and ZePuKa._

* * *

For Hak, the next few days went by in a fevered haze.

He could hear people entering and leaving the room from time to time, mumbling things next to him that he couldn't quite make out.

Whenever he was awake, someone always seemed to be in the room, though he often struggled with making out whom. Sometimes he thought he heard the voices of other wind tribe members or the princess, but he could never be sure as they all seemed to blend together in the fog. Staying awake was a struggle in itself, and he found himself, more often than not, drifting off in the middle of visits.

Whenever he was sleeping, he dreamt, and often the line between the real world and his dreams blurred into an indistinct grey-area, random scenarios blending with reality and darkness. Faces of visitors morphed with those of people left behind a long time ago, and the room transformed into nightmarish underwater landscapes of shadows and frozen mud. More than once he woke up with his hands clutching at his throat, gasping for air, desperate to escape the lake, only to realise that he was lying in a warm bed, safe, and that he wasn't drowning at all.

His lungs didn't seem to get the memo though, still keeping his breath hostage and forcing him to fight for every single inhale and exhale.

Then after a while, he couldn't tell how long, he thought Yoon and the others came barging in, and the room filled up with noise and chatter for a moment before they were being chased out again by the stern elder. He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought Yoon stayed, and that Elder Miku and the boy conversed silently in the corner of the room, though the group's arrival could very well have been just another dream. Several times the elder re-applied a stinking poultice onto his chest designed to draw out the infection. She also insisted on forcing him to swallow a sickeningly sweet concoction that left the most horrid after-taste in his mouth, and drink more of the tea Yoon had made him earlier, the really awful one. He couldn't complain too much though, literally. His throat was too sore, and his chest felt so heavy that every breath was a strain. It was hard to even string three words together to form a sentence without triggering another cough attack, and he dreaded the never ending spells as they sent scorching flares of pain through his lungs and ribcage leaving him breathless and light-headed.

He kept tossing and turning from one uncomfortable sleeping position to the other, in one moment chilled to every aching bone in his body and in the other frantically kicking off all his blankets to cool down as the fever mercilessly raged on.

Then he was suddenly back in the water. His nightmares were materialising and he wanted to scream but all that came out was a gurgling noise in the back of his throat. He fought to get out, the cold was unbearable, but he was held down by strong hands and his strength was fading fast. Panic set in and the last thing he heard before the darkness pulled him back under was someone distantly shouting.

…

The next time he woke up, the world seemed a bit clearer. His chest still hurt, but the room wasn't spinning so violently anymore and he could focus on his surroundings. It was dark in the room and he could faintly make out the outline of Jae-Ha's long-limbed frame sitting with his back against the wall and his legs crossed at the ankles, apparently sleeping.

He gingerly pushed himself up into a sitting position, noting in dismay how much energy the simple action took, and had to stop for a moment to catch his breath.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Didn't think… you were awake," Hak muttered, looking over to where the dragon was now sitting up a bit straighter. Not overly keen on getting a lecture about how he shouldn't strain himself, he diverted the conversation: "How come every time I turn around lately, all I see is your annoying mug?"

"You should count your blessings. You're very lucky that you get to spend so much time in my fabulous company," Jae-Ha answered, cracking his neck and grinning.

"Sometimes I wish… I was a little bit less lucky."

"Aw, come on now, that's just hurtful."

Hak rolled his eyes, making a note of straightening himself out and standing but got halted halfway by Jae-Ha, who stood up and moved closer to him, touching his temple with his knuckles.

"You _are_ lucky, you know. Looks like the fever has finally broken, but you should probably not get up just yet; you're still a bit warm. You had us pretty worried there for a while," he commented, and Hak couldn't help but wince slightly at that. The last few days were pretty vague, but he could faintly remember a constant stream of visitors and troubled faces looking down on him.

"How long was I out?"

"It's been about three days since we came here, four since the fever started, and six since you fell into the river," Jae-Ha informed, tapping his index finger on the other hand's fingers in tact with the mentioning of each number for extra emphasis. Then he picked up a pitcher, filled a cup of water and offered it to Hak before relaxing himself down next to him. "Really, though. How do you feel?"

Raking his fingers through his hair and rubbing at the scruff of his neck to get the worst kinks out, Hak gave himself a quick once-over. He felt weaker than a newborn kitten and a bit dizzy, but overall, not too bad, considering. His chest still felt funny, heavy, but it was a bit easier to breathe now, and his leg and ribs weren't hurting as much anymore. "Better, honestly,"Hak answered as he reached his conclusion, "I just need to stretch my legs for a bit." After emptying the cup he put it down on the floor and made another note of standing up again.

Seeing the growing impatience in the younger man, Jae-Ha didn't stop him this time, instead merely opting to giving him a hand to help him to his feet.

Hak took a few shaky steps out of the room and tentatively drew in a couple of deeper breaths, testing his lungs, but soon got over-confident and took in too much air too quickly, triggering another barking coughing-fit.

"Whoa, easy there. Told you it was a bad idea to get up so quickly," Jae-Ha commented helpfully and moved closer, just in case, but Hak pushed him away, steadying himself against the wall as he focused on getting his breathing under control again.

"I'm fine," he wheezed and continued walking down the corridor, towards the courtyard. He was sick and tired of being cooped up inside and he wanted to get out, if only for a little while. Once there, he gingerly sat down on the veranda, making sure it seemed like it was his plan all along, and not because his knees threatened to buckle if he didn't. Once he stretched out his legs and leaned back against a pillar, he lifted his gaze, observing the empty square and ruminating over the events that brought him home.

"Three days did you say?" He mulled, voicing his thoughts out loud and glancing over to where the green dragon had sat down next to him. "We shouldn't have come here… and we've stayed too long…"

"But your family's so nice. If I'd known there were so many pretty ladies in the Wind tribe, I would have come here ages ago," Jae-Ha drawled, making a very conscious decision to ignore the sober tone and glum mood. His efforts almost instantly earned him the desired effect as Hak gave him a sour glare and a lifted fist that twitched warningly.

"Don't think that just because I can't breathe… I can't kick your ass. If you lead anyone of them on…"

"Now now, honestly, what do you really think of me? Can't a man just appreciate the sights given to him without having any ulterior motives?" Jae-Ha grinned back, relishing in the relief he gained from hearing Hak return the razz. While Hak clearly had a long way to go, judging by how unsteady his gait still was, and how soon he had to sit down to catch his breath, at least he was up and moving and had regained some of his bite. That was more than one could say only a day ago.

Hak raised an eyebrow. "Sure he can, just not you."

"I'm truly hurt by how lowly you think of me."

"Then stop giving me so many… reasons for doing so, pervert," Hak bit back, though as much as he tried, he couldn't completely subdue the tiny grin playing in the corner of his lips.

Jae-Ha just snorted at that, still grinning, as he looked up towards the starlit sky, "beautiful night isn't it?" He asked, before discretely glancing over to Hak again, noting that the cold air had quickly brought back the shivers. "Bit crisp though, we should probably head inside. Yona will kill me if I get you sick again."

Hak nodded and pulled his knees back in under him to stand up, but as he did so, his stomach gave him a friendly reminder of one of the main reasons of getting out of the room in the first place. For the first time in almost a week he felt hungry, starving really, and his belly growled loudly in protest against the threatened retreat back to the room without being offered any sustenance.

Jae-Ha laughed: "A bit sick of the broth they've force-fed you, are we? I'd offer to bring some food, but it's pretty late and I don't think anyone's awake…"

"Don't need anyone," Hak grinned and pulled him along towards the kitchen for an impromptu midnight raid.

…

The next morning, when news spread that he was feeling better, his room flooded with visitors eager to see him. Yona threw her arms around him without thinking when she saw him sitting upright, almost toppling him over as she gave him no time to brace himself for the impact. Then, when she realised what she was doing, and that everybody was staring, she jumped back and gave him a slap across his cheek, scolding him for scaring them, her face brightly flushed.

Hak just stared at her for a moment in disbelief before rubbing his stinging cheek. How come he always ended up getting smacked, even when he hadn't done anything to deserve it?

He opened his mouth to answer, honestly having very little idea of how to respond, when Mundok, in that very moment, popped his head in through the door, dissolving the awkward situation without even knowing it. Finding Hak awake and sitting up, the elderly man just nodded, a small smile playing on his lips as relief washed over him, quickly followed by a small blonde peeking in through the gap between the elder and the door. Remembering that his brother didn't recognise him the last time, and feeling very nervous about how he might greet him, Tae-Yeon shyly lingered in the doorway for a moment, not sure how to proceed, though he hadn't needed to worry. Once Hak noticed him, the little blonde received a smile and a wave for him to enter, and for the second time within a minute Hak got tackled by a smaller frame desperately throwing his arms around him, even though the boy couldn't even reach all the way around. Having no clue how to handle the sentiment, Hak opted for returning a quick, awkward half hug with one arm and ruffled the kid's hair with the other, much to the amusement of the group that had gathered.

A happy, energetic aura settled in the room before Elder Miku and Ayame entered in order to give him another look-over and begin the morning treatment regime. Firstly the Elder tried to chase everybody out of the room so that they might have some peace and quiet, but she was immediately met with an onslaught of begging, and bargaining to be allowed to stay now that he was finally awake again. While Hak might not have been overly enthusiastic by the prospect of being examined in front of everybody - the elder wasn't exactly known for her sense of tact - as he listened to the others pleading, he couldn't find it in himself to protest when the elder pursed her lips in annoyance and allowed it on the condition that they kept their mouths' shut.

The old woman undid the bandages on Hak's chest; dipping the gauze in the bucket and wiping the old poultice off before plunking her head down close to listen. She ordered him to cough and when he, slightly reluctantly, obeyed she gave a disapproving huff as she raised her head again and instructed him to open his mouth.

"Elder Miku. I'm fine now… you don't-"

"Mhm, let me be the judge of that young man. You had so much bad fluid in your lungs when you first came home it's a wonder you were breathing at all. Now open your darn mouth or I'll do it for you."

' _Young man?'_ Seriously… he hadn't been called that since he was fifteen. Pursing his lips, he bit out a short, "yes mam," before obeying and throwing a threateningly glance towards Tae-Woo and Han-Dae. He could have sworn he heard some muffled giggles coming from their corner of the room…

Peering into his mouth, she gave another irritated huff before turning to the young woman that had trailed behind her and barked out a set of instructions to bring more garlic-honey, fenugreek, coriander, and new bandages. An order that made Hak cringe; he really hated the concoction she had forced down his throat ever since he arrived home again.

"I don't need any more medicine; I promise, I'm fine."

She snorted. "What are you? Five? You'll take it, or I'll keep you locked up in here until you're as wrinkly as I am, understood?"

"…Yes mam," he sighed in resignation, not particularly pleased with being, once again, compared to a child, though in no position to complain about it. If he said something, it would just prove her point. Furthermore, that she was serious in her threats he had no doubt.

"That's a good boy; you really are a sweetheart, aren't you?" She replied and patted him on his cheek.

…Hak couldn't remember a time when he felt more emasculated.

Bad enough that he had been pretty much chained to a bed for almost a whole week, but now this? In front of everybody? Why, oh why, hadn't he insisted that everybody got out when the healer entered? Little did it help that he could see Han-Dae, Jae-Ha and Tae-Woo break down in silent hysteria in the corner of his eyes. Yona, Saki, Zeno, and Yoon giggled quietly but had the decency to at least cover their mouths, while Kija just grinned smugly, and he even thought he did see Shin-Ah's usually blank expression and Tae-Yeon's innocent little face being pulled into small smiles. Traitors, all of them.

He threw them all a warning glare that spoke of endless pain if they were to let even the tiniest noise escape them… As much as he wanted to reply to the comment with a vengeance, he knew it wasn't meant in harm and he just didn't have the heart to pay it back in full.

His life really did suck.

…

Jae-Ha followed the elder as she left the room once finished. He had just witnessed the most fantastic exchange ever, and was not about to let this golden, once in a life-time opportunity to gather further ammo slip by his fingers. "Hak seems to have a great deal of respect for you, my lady," he commented innocently, as a simple conversation starter, of course.

"Ah, those youngsters think they are all that, but all they need is a firm hand. I have known that boy since he was running around this place in cloth nappies. He was a terrible child let me tell you, always getting himself into mischief," she explained, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips, a smirk Jae-Ha quickly matched.

"I think we'll become very good friends you and I, Lady Miku. Now, please do me the honour of telling me _all_ about how Hak was as a kid…"

…

Later that evening, once all the visitors were finally chased out of his room and Hak was just about to lie down again, one more visitor appeared. Knocking on the door and stepping in before Hak had a chance to invite him, Mundok held up a pitcher and two cups, a small smile donning his wrinkled old face.

"Feel well enough for a drink?" He asked, which reminded Hak of the last time they shared a drink, back when he had set his mind to leave the Wind tribe and had asked Mundok to let the princess stay with them.

"Sure, old man. If it's yours, I'd feel well enough even if I was ten feet underground," he grinned, but the old man's face pulled into a scowl when he heard the dry gallows' humour.

"Tsk, don't joke about that, you brat," the old man growled as he walked closer, sitting down and pouring himself and Hak a cup, and for a moment Hak faltered. In hindsight, joking about his death might have been a bit tasteless, but he hadn't expected such an emotional response and found himself at a loss for words. He accepted the cup silently and feverishly racked his brain for something that would break the awkward tension. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn't know how to even begin. Eventually he settled for a fairly safe topic.

"How's Tae-Woo doing?"

"He is still young, and has yet to adjust to his new position, but he'll get there, eventually," Mundok answered, a small smile playing on his lips at the thought of the, at times, obstinate young general.

"I was younger than he is now," Hak reminded him.

"Yes, but you were brought up with the knowledge that you would one day take over. He got it thrown onto him without much warning. Besides, I seem to recall a few times when you were younger, I had to put you over my lap to get you to listen, brat," the old man replied, smirking at the memory, and Hak couldn't help but cringe. First Elder Miku had set her mind to embarrass him in front of everybody, and now his grandfather found it suitable to remind him of the numerous times he had been given a hiding as a child. Had all the old people in the tribe decided to gang up on him today?

"Thanks, much appreciated. That's exactly the stuff I like to be reminded of… I really hope you aren't pulling the same tactics with Tae-Woo. I think he's a bit too old to be walking around with a sore butt when trying to lead the tribe, don't you? Kinda ruins your image when you can't sit without a pillow," he retorted wryly, making the older man snort in amusement.

"Perhaps I should, it'd teach him not to fall asleep when I try to tell him something," Mundok mused, scratching his beard and grinning at the idea, making Hak shake his head in resignation, feeling pretty sorry for the poor boy in question. He could still vividly remember the sting of Mundok's discipline from when he was a kid and had gotten in trouble for one thing or the other.

Silence settled for a moment during which both men had a taste of the fragrant sake, enjoying the flavour and the heat running down their throats, before Hak broke the silence again.

"We'll leave soon. If anyone gets a whiff of us being here…"

"In due time. Where are you going?"

"The original plan was to revisit the priest, Ik-soo. Yoon and the Princess wanted to meet with him again."

"She's come a long way hasn't she?" The old man asked thoughtfully at the mentioning of the princess, thoughts lingering on the obvious changes in the young girl.

"Yeah… she missed you, you know," Hak offered.

"I've missed her too," the old man smiled, and silence engulfed the room as the two former generals, the grandfather and his grandson, quietly returned their focus on their drinks.

…

It took another day before Hak could persuade Yoon and the Elder to let him out of the room, and two more before he managed to convince the rest of the group that it was time to move on. He was still coughing up mouthfuls of nasty gunk, but he had a feeling that would follow him around for weeks, and they could not stay in Fuuga much longer.

The farewell was a quiet, solemn affair; at least until Han-Dae decided everybody was way too serious and turned to Hak.

"Take care, sweetheart," he grinned.

Hak's eyes widened in disbelief before quickly narrowing again _, "you_ little-" Pausing for a moment to regain his composure, he cracked his knuckles as he calmly instructed, "run."

Han-Dae swallowed and followed Hak's advice, quickly.

Despite his anxiousness to get going, seeing Yona and the rest say farewell to his family made something tighten in Hak's chest that had nothing to do with the illness. A part of him could not help but wish that she had stayed in Fuuga all along. She could have been happy there, never had to have gone hungry, and above all, stayed safe. Then again, she never would have faced the challenges and grown if she had stayed here, and they would never have found Yoon and the dragons.

While he left one family behind, she had, somehow, found another for both of them.

As they left the mansion he had to stop twice just walking down the steps and by lunchtime he had to call it quits for the day as spots clouding his vision was starting to appear. They had barely left Fuuga, and had only managed so far as to walk a couple of miles into the forest. It was more than a little embarrassing having to admit it, but denying that he was still recuperating was partially what had gotten him into the whole mess in the beginning.

The breathlessness never fully went away. He trained daily, always setting new goals, pushing himself to his limits until he could barely breathe, and slowly, very slowly, he began to regain some of his previous stamina. However, as much as he trained, his stamina never returned to the same levels as before. Exercises that had never bothered him before now took a toll on his endurance and forced him to stop in the middle to catch his breath. To an outsider it was nothing but a very subtle shift, but one that infuriated him almost to despair. The proud general had never had to experience his own body betraying him in such manner before. His physical strength having always been a defining trait, even from young age, and a source of confidence and pride, it had always been something he could rely on. Admittedly, he had previously experienced short-term injuries and illness, but never anything permanently debilitating.

Kneeling in the dirt and clutching his useless chest, he gritted his teeth and cursed his weakness. It was _hard_ to admit, and he still refused to accept that he might never again reach the levels he once maintained. How could he protect those he cared for if he had to stop in the middle of a fight to breathe?

Yona's thin brows furrowed and her fists tightened as she observed Hak dropping down on the ground a little bit away from the campsite. His chest heaving and mouth slightly ajar as he tried to force the oxygen down his protesting lungs by sheer will. She hated seeing him like that. His frustrations were palpable and she wasn't sure how to help him ease his pain. She thought back to the day they had encountered the soldiers, the moment she watched him going under the ice. The unbearable terror that she felt when he didn't come up to the surface again, and when they desperately worked to return some warmth into his chilled, shivering body. She thought of how furious she had been with him, still was, for pulling that stunt on her. He had well known that the ice wasn't stable enough to carry them both, and he had still gone and picked her up. He once told her to use him as a tool to survive. He had again and again proved that he was willing to die for her, and it made her sick to think about it. She thought of when she first arrived at Fuuga, and the jarring insight that he wasn't as invincible as he generally liked to portray. It made her even more determined to become stronger herself, so that she could one day stand beside him and ease the burden he put on himself.

She stood up with the intention to approach Hak, but was halted before she had even taken one step by a warm hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, she found Jae-Ha smiling reassuringly down on her as he gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before he returned his focus on the kneeling figure in front of them. _'I got this,'_ his smile promised.

Seeing Hak clench his fist and ram it into the ground in frustration, Jae-Ha shook his head. While he couldn't be exactly sure of what bothered the bodyguard, he could make some fairly educated guesses, and Jae-Ha assumed it was the lack of faith in his own abilities brought on by the aftermath of the near-drowning incident. Walking over to Hak, he didn't bother with any greeting phrases. Instead he just pulled him to his feet and made a stupid comment to ease his friend's frame of mind before he, without warning, threw his leg up in the air in a well-aimed kick to start a sparring session. He figured using physical means would be the better route, rather than trying to convince him with words, to remind Hak that he was still far from useless, and that Jae-Ha himself could be trusted to hold his own guard. If he couldn't talk some sense into Hak, then he would kick it into the stubborn idiot.

Jae-Ha hadn't needed to worry. Hak was aware that he didn't need to push himself so far. This band of ragtag oddballs that had somehow nestled themselves into his trust was indeed reliable. It was frightening, in a way, how he had begun to accept that hard-earned fact, but it didn't stop him from feeling frustrated with himself. So he lifted his fists again, finding satisfaction and release of tension in ramming them into the grinning face of his obnoxious older 'brother'.

Once they were both breathless and sweaty and had finished beating each other to the ground, for now, they returned to the campsite where they found Yona patiently waiting for them with two cups of water.

Offering the cups to the two sweaty men, and seeing how Hak's mood had increased significantly, she threw one grateful smile at Jae-Ha, who smiled back and excused himself, heading towards the tents to clean himself up.

Hak was just about to follow Jae-Ha; he didn't exactly smell of roses himself, when he felt the princess grab his wrist. She asked him to walk with her to gather some more firewood and he complied, of course.

They walked in silence for a little while, both gathering sticks as they spotted them on the ground. Everything they found was wet, and cold, and honestly not really suited, but it was the best they had, and they were used to the campsite being a bit on the smokier side anyhow.

"Hey, Hak," Yona broke the silence.

"Yes?"

"You know, you don't have to carry everything by yourself."

Her words, while well intended made him groan silently, they were too similar to what Droopy eyes had tried to hammer into him earlier, was his frustrations really that obvious? "Princess, if this is-"

Stopping and dropping the firewood on the ground so that she could take both his hands in hers, she interrupted him. "Listen, whatever challenges may lay ahead, You, I, Yoon, Shinah, Jae-Ha, Zeno, and Kija, we'll face them together."

The way she looked up at him, completely sincere and serious, and the way she clutched his hands to emphasise her point made his throat tightened. It was odd, having her trying to comfort him, and not something he welcomed at all. She shouldn't have to worry what about him. That was not her burden. "Princess, listen, you-"

Once again she interrupted him, "no, you listen to me. We are in this together, whether you like it or not, and I know that I'm not that strong, but you're not alone, just… remember that, okay?"

"…I will," he promised, sighing before offering a small smile, and she beamed up at him.

"Good, now let's find some more wet firewood. I love a smoke-filled camp," she joked, and he nodded his agreement. At the end of the day, even if he couldn't fight for as long anymore, he was still alive. He had friends that had his back, and as a group they would remain strong. That was more than most could wish for.

…

 _Finished! I did it!_

 _I might still write a bonus chapter one day when inspiration strikes, for those of you who were curious of the cuddling scene (you know who you are) and exactly how it came to be that Yona had to sleep in the smaller tent, no matter what, and a couple more smaller scenes. For now though, consider this fic finished._

 _Thank you lovelies for following this little fic of mine and encouraging me to keep going!_

 _..._

 _Now, you didn't really think that I would just let him off the hook without any repercussions from his brush with death? Reduced endurance and shortness of breath are real life, long term complications of near drowning from inhaling water into the lungs and damaging and scaring the lung tissue._

 _A wonderful gentleman I once knew made a comparison between a car engine and his less than optimally functioning lungs. Describing it like this to me: if your lungs were originally operating on six cylinders, they are now trying to cope on just two… And it was with that metaphor in mind I wrote the last few paragraphs._

 _Furthermore, the risk of dying was much greater before oxygen inhalation became readily available, as well as the discovery of antibiotics to treat infections. You pretty much had three options: dying, surviving but with long term complications of damaging the lung tissue and the resulting scaring, and the much less likely: surviving and healing without any long term complications._

 _Again, disclaimer, I am by no means a health care professional, and everything in this fic is based on what I could find online in relation to hypothermia, near drowning, and complications following._


End file.
